Celebrating Erasmus University's 100th Birthday & honoring Arjun Appadurai

What a wonderful event ! It was the 100th anniversary of Erasmus University Rotterdam on Nov 8th and for that, they did not cut corners to say the least. The event was at the de doelen, a massive orchestra house which I had never been to until now, in spite of living in the Netherlands for four years now. The hall was packed with invite-only guests that were fed a four course meal, unlimited drinks and wonderful dessert. I believe there was at least a couple of thousand people overall.  It was indeed a spectacle and I could see many Erasmus University alumni getting rather sentimental about their time at the university.
De Doelen
Erasmus University Campus 2013
Also, thank god the construction is gone and we now have a much improved campus. Since I came here years ago, I have gotten used to cranes and re-routes to classes and mountains of mud and construction signage all around. What a relief it is now over.









Organizing Committee: Karin Willemse, Filip Vermeylen and Payal Arora
Also, my faculty of History, Culture and Communication commemorated this occasion by nominating Arjun Appadurai for the honorary doctorate. I was fortunate to be nominated alongside Filip Vermelyen and Karin Willemse to organize a symposium for Arjun prior the big event. It went smoothly overall, with stimulating conversations with top scholars such as Patricia Pisters, Patricia Spyer, Peter van der Veer, Helmut Anheieir, and Peter Gerschiere. 

Overall, a great week is now come to an end. 


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